Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Roland Emerich's (Stargate,
Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) latest movie, 2012 is on a
global scale. The premise is simple, in the year 2012 there will be a
solar flare of such magnitude it will rip apart the world as we know
it. The story follows various individuals trying to survive this
event and interweaves their destinies along the way. There are vague
references to Mayan calandars and Dan Brown-style conspiracies but
these are really red herrings for what is simply a good old fashioned
disaster movie.

In order to achieve the astounding
special effects, the Yellowstone caldera exploding, cities
collapsing, earthquakes and tidal waves, computer generated imagery
is seamlessly integrated with live action and hats off the the actors
for making it feel believable. The cast is headed up by John Cusack
(Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, War Inc.) who plays an everyman
by the name of Jackson Curtis, a little known author
(http://www.farewellatlantis.com)
just trying to keep his dysfunctional family alive. Chitwetel Ejiofor
plays the government geologist with a conscience and the rest of the
cast include Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover
and Woody Harrelson (Woody Harrelson manages to salvage his
over-the-top acting of a conspiracy theorist DJ by the seat of his
pants!). While the science bits are well and truly dodgy, so
numerously dodgy that I'm not even going to go there, the fast-paced
action is right on track and the 158 minutes fly by in jaw-droppingly
spectacular style. This is a movie that needs a big screen and
suggest you see it at a cinema while you can. If you liked 'The Day
After Tomorrow' then 2012 is it's bigger and eye-poppingly bolder
brother.